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[Illustration: Mary the Mother of our Lord]
WOMAN
IN
SACRED HISTORY:
A SERIES OF SKETCHES
_DRAWN FROM SCRIPTURAL, HISTORICAL, AND LEGENDARY SOURCES_.
BY
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE.
Illustrated with Sixteen Chromo-Lithographs,
AFTER PAINTINGS BY RAPHAEL, BATONI, HORACE VERNET, GOODALL,
LANDELLE, KOEHLER, PORTAËLS, VERNET-LECOMTE, BAADER, MERLE,
AND BOULANGER: PRINTED BY MONROCQ, FROM STONES EXECUTED BY
JEHENNE, PARIS.
[Illustration: logo]
NEW YORK:
J. B. FORD AND COMPANY.
1874.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873,
BY J. B. FORD AND COMPANY,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
I. WOMEN OF THE PATRIARCHAL AGES.
1. SARAH THE PRINCESS.
2. HAGAR THE SLAVE.
3. REBEKAH THE BRIDE.
4. LEAH AND RACHEL.
II. WOMEN OF THE NATIONAL PERIOD.
5. MIRIAM, SISTER OF MOSES.
6. DEBORAH THE PROPHETESS.
7. DELILAH THE DESTROYER.
8. JEPHTHA'S DAUGHTER.
9. HANNAH THE PRAYING MOTHER.
10. RUTH THE MOABITESS.
11. THE WITCH OF ENDOR.
12. QUEEN ESTHER.
13. JUDITH THE DELIVERER.
III. WOMEN OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA.
14. THE MYTHICAL MADONNA.
15. MARY THE MOTHER OF JESUS.
16. THE DAUGHTER OF HERODIAS.
17. THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA.
18. MARY MAGDALENE.
19. MARTHA AND MARY.
THE ILLUSTRATIONS
OF THIS VOLUME.
The notable characters among the women of Bible history present so
attractive and variable a theme for pictorial representation, that
they have been several times grouped in book form, both in Europe
and America, within the past twenty years. The freshness of the
present publication, therefore, consists not in the subject but in
its mode of treatment.
In seeking material to illustrate Mrs. Stowe's interesting sketches,
two purposes have been kept in view: first, the securing of a
series of pictures which, by a judicious selection among different
schools and epochs of art, might give a more original and less
conventional presentation of the characters than could be had were
all the illustrations conceived by the same mind, or executed
by the same hand; and, secondly, the choice of such pictorial
subjects as were well adapted to reproduction in colors, so as to
represent as perfectly as possible, by the rapidly maturing art of
chromo-lithography, the real ideas of the painters. The guiding
principles of selection have been _aptness of design_ and a rich
_variety of effect_.
It will be seen that, in pursuit of this purpose, some pictures
of world-wide renown have been here reproduced in whole or in
part,--the desirable being always limited by the practicable;
examples of these are the beautiful "Magdalen" of BATONI, and the
main portion of that most wonderful of all pictures, the "Sistine
Madonna" of RAPHAEL. The only possible excuse for mutilating this
glorious design is the desire to give some slight idea of its
color-effect to thousands who have known it only through engravings,
and who could never know it otherwise, unless in some such way as
this. Among our illustrations are copies of celebrated paintings
of more modern date, by the great painters of France, Germany, and
England;--such as PAUL DELAROCHE'S graceful scene on the Nile, where
Miriam watches little Moses, exposed in the bullrushes; HORACE
VERNET'S terrible "Judith"; BAADER'S remorseless "Delilah"; and
GOODALL'S lovely picture of "Mary, the Mother of Our Lord," with
her offering of two doves in the Temple. Of still another class
are those which have been adapted, because of their appositeness,
to illustrate subjects which they were not originally painted
for: of these, LANDELLE'S "Fellah Woman," well shows the Oriental
style and youthful sweetness of "Rebekah" at the fountain, and the
"Dancing-Girl" of VERNET-LECOMTE may fairly represent the costume
and beauty of Salome, the "Daughter of Herodias." In addition to
these varieties, the sixteen plates include several which were
designed and painted expressly for this work. One of the most
pleasing is "Ruth," by DEVEDEUX of Paris. It is accounted also a
peculiar advantage that the "Queen Esther" and the "Martha and
Mary"--two very striking and effective pictures--are from the studio
of BOULANGER, who shares with Gérome the highest eminence as a
delineator of the peculiar and beautiful features of the Orient.
In order to give some idea of the care taken in the reproduction of
these subjects, it may be stated that (except where the original
paintings themselves were accessible) in every case an accurate copy
in oils was painted by a skillful artist, and this, together with
photographs from the original pictures, the best impressions of
the best engravings, etc., formed the basis on which Jehenne, the
artist-lithographer, founded his conscientious work. Each subject
is produced by a series of color-printings, the average number of
stones to each picture being fifteen. The delicacy and difficulty of
this art may be the better appreciated by remembering that, while
the painter has always at hand his palette, with its numberless
pigments of color and shades of color, for the patient elaboration
of the picture, the lithographer has to analyze the work which
has thus grown up by infinite touches under the painter's brush,
and must study to concentrate as much as possible the effects of
each single color in a single stone,--which can print or touch the
picture but once. The final effect is of course produced by the
superposition of colors and shades of color one upon another; but
the art which can thus transfer the painter's minute and painful
toil to the breadth and rapidity of mechanical reproduction, making
accessible to thousands the designs in form and ideas in color of
the creating genius, instead of leaving them imprisoned in the
single copy which only the rich purchaser may possess,--this is also
a true art, and claims the recognition of true lovers of art.
Below is given a descriptive list of the subjects, pictures, and
artists of the illustrations in the present publication.
No. I. _Mary, the Mother of our Lord._ FRED. GOODALL (England, b.
1822).
This presentation of the Virgin, going into the temple with her
offering of two doves, is one of the most delicate and beautiful
of the entire series. The exceeding simplicity of design and of
coloring gives it an effect of purity, while the face is tender,
thoughtful, and in every way attractive. The softness of the drapery
and the gentle gradations of light are especial features.
II. _Hagar and Ishmael._ CHRISTIAN KOEHLER (Werben, Germany, b.
1809; d. 1861).
This picture is strong and expressive rather than attractive. The
depth of the greenish-blue sky and the barrenness of the indicated
landscape give an intensity to the desolateness of the mother,
clasping the form of her sturdy and unconscious little outcast son.
The original painting is now in the Civic Gallery, at Düsseldorf, on
the Rhine. It was painted at Leinwald in 1843.
III. _Rebekah._ CHARLES LANDELLE (Laval, France, b. 1815).
This is one of those charming subjects which the enterprise and
graceful art of the French have brought from the Orient. The
original painting (1866) is entitled "Femme Fellah," and represents
one of the women of the Nubian tribe of Fellahs, resting at the well
before taking up the earthen jar which she has just filled with
water. This lovely face and figure may well be used to illustrate
the maidenly grace of "Rebekah at the Fountain."
IV. _Leah and Rachel._ JEAN FRANÇOIS PORTAËLS (Vilvorde, Belgium, b.
1820).
Leah the "tender-eyed" became the wife of Jacob seven years before
he attained the hand of his chosen love, Rachel the "beautiful." And
with this, the picture must tell its own story.
V. _Miriam and Moses._ PAUL DELAROCHE (France, b. 1797; d. 1856).
This is one of the most famous designs of one of the most fertile
artists of France. The original painting has been often engraved,
but its freshness and beauty are best shown by reproducing its soft
and delicate coloring. The careful sister, watching through the
rushes, and the indistinct form of the mother on the bank above, are
in exquisite contrast to the quietude of the babe in his basket on
the waters of the placid Nile.
VI. _Deborah._ CHARLES LANDELLE (Laval, France, b. 1815).
This is one of the adaptations spoken of above. The original
painting represents Velleda, the Prophetess of the Gallic Druids.
The grand form, noble face, and inspired attitude of the original
figure have been scrupulously retained, the background only being
somewhat modified, the better to suggest the _locale_ of the
Israelitish prophetess.
VII. _Delilah._ LOUIS MARIE BAADER (Lannion, France).
A most ungrateful and ungracious subject, but one portrayed with
singular strength and concentration of purpose, amid a studious
interest of detail, in this effective picture. The cold, hard look
of the face, and the unrelenting will expressed by the slender but
steady arm and the supporting hand, half buried in the cushion,
instantly attract attention, while the harmonious variety of color
in the accessory draperies and furniture of the strange apartment
supports the interest of the central figure without detracting from
its power.
VIII. _Jephtha's Daughter._ HUGUES MERLE. (St. Marcelin, France).
This illustration of the stern chieftain's daughter among the
mountains with her companions, bewailing the desolate fate to which
she was devoted, is an adaptation from one of MERLE'S beautiful
pictures. This artist is noted for his success in depicting young
girls and children. The general expression of face, figure, and
surroundings, mark the aptness of this design for its present use.
IX. _Ruth._ LOUIS DEVEDEUX (Paris, France).
The author of this charming fancy of the gentle and faithful
Moabite, which was painted for this volume, is one of the rising and
already recognized painters of France, having taken several medals
under the severe critical awards of the French annual _Salon_. The
tender grace and modesty of both face and figure are enhanced by the
delicacy of the color.
X. _Queen Esther._ HENRI-ALEXANDRE ERNEST BOULANGER (Paris, France,
b. 1815).
Having just returned from one of his trips to the Orient, whither
he had gone with his brilliant _confrère_ GÉROME, to refill his
portfolio with new faces and costumes and scenes, to be wrought up
into new pictures, MONS. BOULANGER was fortunately able to respond
promptly to the demand for two original designs and paintings for
the present work. "Queen Esther" is one of these. The proud and
serene beauty of the face, the dignity of the form and bearing, and
the simple richness of the costume make this a notable picture. And,
although the background is devoid of everything save the sombre
shadow which gives relief to the figure, the imagination easily
supplies the haughty king, the throng of courtiers, and the crowd of
suppliant Jews behind their queen.
XI. _Judith._ HORACE VERNET (France, b. 1789; d. 1863).
Artists have always been fond of this strong subject, but none have
so well succeeded in rendering the beauty of the intrepid Jewess,
combined with her resolution and force of character. The horror of
the old woman, who holds the dreadful basket to receive the head,
is finely contrasted with the superb sternness of Judith's face and
action, just as the illuminated, gorgeous tapestry of the tyrant's
tent is rebuked by the quiet sky and the steady shining of the
stars. It is a grand composition, and most effective in coloring.
XII. _The Sistine Madonna._ RAPHAEL SANZIO (Urbino, Italy, b. 1483;
d. 1520).
Originally painted as an altar-piece for the Sistine Chapel, in the
Vatican at Rome (whence its name), this grand picture is now in the
Dresden Gallery. The painting has, below the Virgin's figure, to
the right and left, the kneeling figures of Saint Barbara and Pope
Gregory the Sixth, under whose reign both the chapel and the picture
were produced. The halo about the Virgin and Infant is filled with
indistinct cherub faces, and at the very bottom, apart from the
main design, are the two cherubs which appear in the plate. The
original design is necessarily shorn of many of these details in the
combination given, but the more important portions of the painting
are well shown.
XIII. _The Daughter of Herodias._ EMIL VERNET-LECOMTE (Paris,
France, b. 1821).
As stated in the remarks prefatory to this list, the plate taken
to represent the Oriental type of beauty, and one at least of the
costumes of her class, is LECOMTE'S "L'Almée" (Dancing-Girl).
Travelers in the East find by investigation so little change of
dress or manners, boats, houses, tools, instruments, or modes of
life in any form, from those of twenty centuries ago, that we need
not go far astray in taking a dancing-girl of the present day in
that ancient land, to suggest the dress which the daughter of
Herodias possibly assumed, in order to please the puissant king
and gain by his favor the request of her revengeful mother. The
plate presents also, from the simple view-point of art, a pleasing
picture. (Original painted in 1866.)
XIV. _The Woman of Samaria._ EMIL VERNET-LECOMTE (Paris, France, b.
1821).
This is another of that artist's admirable Eastern subjects, and
has been deemed a singularly apposite illustration of the woman at
the well, to whom Jesus talked. The easy poise of the figure, the
steadiness of the head and right hand, and the strength of the face,
indicate the self-reliance and confidence of a woman who had seen
much of life; while the listless forgetfulness of the left hand,
holding the water-jar, and the earnest gaze of the eyes show the
awakened mind and fixed attention of the listener.
XV. _Mary Magdalene._ POMPEO GIROLAMO BATONI (Lucca, Italy, b. 1708;
d. 1781).
This beautiful design and admirable piece of color is one of the
pictures that the world keeps alive in constant reproduction. It
is one of the few paintings which fairly compete with the masters
of the sixteenth century on their own ground; for, though it is a
picture of the eighteenth century, painted during the decadence of
European, and especially of Italian art, it is very much after the
style of the older artists, and is brought into direct comparison
with the similar expression of this subject by Correggio, in the
same gallery at Dresden. Every student knows that it easily holds
its own in the competition, if, indeed, it does not bear away the
palm.
XVI. _Martha and Mary._ HENRI-ALEXANDRE ERNEST BOULANGER (Paris,
France, b. 1815).
Of the entire list of illustrations taken from modern paintings,
perhaps no one is more thoroughly original and effective than this;
the hand of a master is to be seen in every line. The rich beauty
and spirited action of Martha, the serene repose of Mary's figure,
the sweetness of her face and the quietude of her look under the
fiery reproaches of the elder sister, the characteristic contrast
of color in the dresses of the two, the suggested coolness of the
vine-embowered porch, and the general harmony of line, design, and
color, are well worthy of observation. The fact that it was designed
for this volume by the great Orientalist gives to the picture an
especial value and interest.
WOMAN IN SACRED HISTORY.
INTRODUCTION.
The object of the following pages will be to show, in a series of
biographical sketches, a history of WOMANHOOD UNDER DIVINE CULTURE,
tending toward the development of that high ideal of woman which we
find in modern Christian countries.
All the characters comprised in these sketches belong to one
nationality. They are of that mysterious and ancient race whose
records begin with the dawn of history; who, for centuries, have
been sifted like seed through all the nations of the earth, without
losing either their national spirit or their wonderful physical and
mental vigor.
By this nation the Scriptures, which we reverence, were written and
preserved. From it came all the precepts and teachings by which our
lives are guided in things highest and holiest; from it came He who
is at once the highest Ideal of human perfection and the clearest
revelation of the Divine.
We are taught that the Creator revealed himself to man, not at
once, but by a _system_ progressively developing from age to age.
Selecting one man, he made of his posterity a sacerdotal nation,
through which should gradually unfold a religious literature, and
from which should come a succession of religious teachers, and the
final development, through Jesus, of a religion whose ultimate
triumphs should bring complete blessedness to the race.
In tracing the Bible narrative from the beginning, it is interesting
to mark the effect of this great movement in its relation to women.
The characters we have selected will be arranged for this purpose
in a series, under the following divisions:--
I. WOMEN OF THE PATRIARCHAL AGES.
II. WOMEN OF THE NATIONAL PERIOD.
III. WOMEN OF THE CHRISTIAN PERIOD.
We understand by the patriarchal period the interval between the
calling of Abraham and the public mission of Moses. The pictures of
life at this time are interesting, because they give the clearest
idea of what we may call the raw material on which the educational
system of the Divine Being began to work. We find here a state of
society the elements of which are in some respects peculiarly simple
and healthful, and in others exhibiting the imperfections of the
earth's childhood. Family affection appears to be the strongest
force in it, yet it is family affection with the defects of an
untaught, untrained morality. Polygamy, with its well-known evils,
was universal in the world. Society was broken into roving tribes,
and life was a constant battle, in which artifice and deception were
the only refuge of the quiet and peace-loving spirit. Even within
the bounds of the family, we continually find fraud, artifice, and
deception. Men and women, in that age of the world, seem to have
practiced deceit and spoken lies, as children do, from immaturity
and want of deep reflection. A certain childhood of nature, however,
is the redeeming charm in all these pictures. There is an honest
simplicity in the narrative, which refreshes us like the talk of
children.
We have been so long in the habit of hearing the Bible read in
solemn, measured tones, in the hush of churches, that we are apt to
forget that these men and women were really flesh and blood, of the
same human nature with ourselves. A factitious solemnity invests
a Bible name, and some good people seem to feel embarassed by the
obligation to justify all the proceedings of patriarchs and prophets
by the advanced rules of Christian morality. In this respect, the
modern fashion of treating the personages of sacred story with the
same freedom of inquiry as the characters of any other history has
its advantages. It takes them out of a false, unnatural light,
where they lose all hold on our sympathies, and brings them before
us as real human beings. Read in this way, the ancient sacred
history is the purest naturalism, under the benevolent guidance of
the watchful Father of Nations.
Pascal very wisely says, "The whole succession of men during the
long course of ages ought to be considered as a single man, who
exists and learns from age to age." Considered in this light, it
is no more difficult to conceive of an infinite Father tolerating
an imperfect childhood of morals in the whole human race, than in
each individual of that race. The patriarchs are to be viewed as
the first pupils in the great training-school whence the world's
teachers in morals were to come, and they are shown to us in all
the crudity of early pupilage. The great virtue of which they
are presented as the pattern is the virtue of the child and the
scholar--FAITH.
Faith, the only true reason for weak and undeveloped natures,
was theirs, and as the apostle says, "it was counted to them for
righteousness." However imperfect and uncultured one may be, if he
has implicit trust in an infallible teacher, he is in the way of all
attainment.
The faith of which Abraham is presented as the example is not the
blind, ignorant superstition of the savage. Not a fetish, not a
selfish trust in a Patron Deity for securing personal advantages,
but an enlightened, boundless trust in the Supreme power, wisdom,
and rectitude. "The Judge of all the earth will _do right_." In
this belief, Abraham trusts him absolutely. To him he is willing to
surrender the deepest and dearest hopes of his life, and sacrifice
even the son in whom center all the nerves of joy and hope,
"accounting," as the Apostle tells us, "that God was able to raise
him from the dead."
Nor was this faith bounded by the horizon of this life. We are
informed by the Apostle Paul, who certainly well understood the
traditions of his nation, that Abraham looked forward to the same
heavenly home which cheers the heart of the Christian. "By faith
Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not
knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of
promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac
and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: _for he looked
for a city that hath foundations_, whose builder and maker is God.
They--the patriarchs--desired a better country, even an heavenly:
wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God." (Heb. xi.
8-10, 16.)
We are further told that this faith passed as a legacy through the
patriarchal families to the time of Moses, and that the inspiring
motive of his life was the invisible God and the future world beyond
the grave. "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to
be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer
affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of
sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches
than the treasures of Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense
of reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of
the great king; for he endured as seeing him who is invisible."
(Heb. xi. 24-27.) It has been blindly asserted that the hope of a
future life was no part of the working force in the lives of these
ancient patriarchs. Certainly, no one ever sacrificed more brilliant
prospects of things seen and temporal, for the sake of things unseen
and eternal, than Moses.
Finally, one remarkable characteristic of all these old patriarchs
was the warmth of their affections. Differing in degree as to
moral worth, they were all _affectionate_ men. So, after all that
Christianity has done for us, after all the world's growth and
progress, we find no pictures of love in family life more delicate
and tender than are given in these patriarchal stories. No husband
could be more loyally devoted to a wife than Abraham; no lover
exhibit less of the eagerness of selfish passion and more of
enduring devotion than Jacob, who counted seven years of servitude
as nothing, for the love he bare his Rachael; and, for a picture of
parental tenderness, the story of Joseph stands alone and unequalled
in human literature.
In the patriarchal families, as here given, women seem to have
reigned as queens of the interior. Even when polygamy was
practiced, the monogamic affection was still predominant. In the
case of Abraham and Jacob, it appears to have been from no wandering
of the affections, but from a desire of offspring, or the tyranny of
custom, that a second wife was imposed.
Female chastity was jealously guarded. When a young prince seduced
Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, although offering honorable marriage,
with any amount of dowry, the vengeance of the brothers could only
be appeased by blood; and the history of Joseph shows that purity
was regarded as a virtue in man as well as in woman. Such, then,
was the patriarchal stock,--the seed-form of the great and chosen
nation. Let us now glance at the influences which nourished it
through the grand growth of the prophetic or national period, up to
the time of its consummate blossom and fruit in the Christian era.
Moses was the great lawgiver to mold this people into a nation.
His institutes formed a race of men whose vital force has outlived
conquest, persecution, dispersion, and every possible cause
which could operate to destroy a nationality; so that, even to
our time, talent and genius spring forth from the unwasted vigor
of these sons and daughters of Abraham. The remarkable vigor
and vitality of the Jewish race, their power of adaptation to
every climate, and of bearing up under the most oppressive and
disadvantageous circumstances, have attracted the attention of the
French government, and two successive commissions of inquiry, with
intervals of three or four years between, have been instituted, "on
the causes of the health and longevity of the Jewish race."
In the "Israelite" of February 9, 1866, we have, on this subject,
the report of M. Legoyt, chief of a division of the ministry of
commerce and public works, one of the first statisticians of France.
He says: "We have seen that all the documents put together are
affirmative of an exceptional vitality of the Jews. How can this
phenomenon be explained? Dietrici, after having demonstrated its
existence in Prussia, thinks it is to be attributed to greater
temperance, a better regulated life, and purer morals. This is
likewise the opinion of Drs. Neufville, Glatter, and Meyer. Cases
of drunkenness, says Dietrici, frequent among the Christians, occur
very rarely among the Jews. This regularity and discipline, and
greater self-control, of Jewish life is confirmed by the criminal
statistics of Prussia, which show fewer Jews condemned for crime."
M. Legoyt goes on to account for this longevity and exceptional
vitality of the Jews by the facts of their family life: that early
marriages are more common; that great care is taken to provide for
the exigencies of marriage; that there are fewer children born, and
thus they are better cared for; that family feeling is more strongly
developed than in other races; that the Jewish mother is the nurse
of her own infant, and that great care and tenderness are bestowed
on young children.
It is evident that the sanitary prescriptions of the Mosaic law
have an important bearing on the health. If we examine these laws
of Moses, we shall find that they consist largely in dietetic and
sanitary regulations, in directions for detecting those diseases
which vitiate the blood, and removing the subjects of them from
contact with their fellows.
But the greatest peculiarity of the institutes of Moses is their
care of family life. They differed from the laws of all other
ancient nations by making the family the central point of the state.
In Rome and Greece, and in antiquity generally, the ruling purpose
was war and conquest. War was the normal condition of the ancient
world. The state was for the most part a camp under martial law, and
the interests of the family fared hardly. The laws of Moses, on the
contrary, contemplated a peaceful community of land-holders, devoted
to agriculture and domestic life. The land of Canaan was divided
into homesteads; the homestead was inalienable in families, and
could be sold only for fifty years, when it reverted again to the
original heirs. All these regulations gave a quality of stability
and perpetuity to the family. We have also some striking laws which
show how, when brought into immediate comparison, family life is
always considered the first; for instance, see Deuteronomy xxiv.
5: "When a man hath taken a new wife he shall not go out to war,
neither shall he be charged with any business; but he shall be free
at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken."
What can more strongly show the delicate care of woman, and the high
regard paid to the family, than this? It was more important to be a
good husband and make his wife happy than to win military glory or
perform public service of any kind.
The same regard for family life is shown, in placing the father and
the mother as joint objects of honor and veneration, in the Ten
Commandments: "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may
be long in the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee." Among the
Greeks, the wife was a nonentity, living in the seclusion of the
women's apartments, and never associated publicly with her husband
as an equal. In Rome, the father was all in all in the family, and
held the sole power of life and death over his wife and children.
Among the Jews, the wife was the co-equal queen of the home, and was
equally honored and obeyed with her husband. Lest there should be
any doubt as to the position of the mother, the command is solemnly
reiterated, and the mother placed first in order: "And the Lord
spake to Moses, speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them,
Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. Ye shall fear
every man his MOTHER and his father. I am the Lord." (Lev. xix.
3.) How solemn is the halo of exaltation around the mother in this
passage, opened with all the authority of God,--calling to highest
holiness, and then exalting the mother and the father as, next to
God, objects of reverence!
Family government was backed by all the authority of the state,
but the power of life and death was not left in the parents'
hands. If a son proved stubborn and rebellious, utterly refusing
domestic discipline, then the father and the mother were to unite
in bringing him before the civil magistrates, who condemned him to
death. But the _mother_ must appear and testify, before the legal
act was accomplished, and thus the power of restraining the stronger
passions of the man was left with her.
The laws of Moses also teach a degree of delicacy and consideration,
in the treatment of women taken captives in war, that was
unparalleled in those ages. With one consent, in all other ancient
nations, the captive woman was a slave, with no protection for
chastity. Compare with this the spirit of the law of Moses: "If
thou seest among thy captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire
unto her that thou wouldst have her to wife, then thou shalt bring
her to thy house, and she shall remain in thy house and bewail her
father and mother a full month; and after that thou shalt go in
unto her and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife." Here is
consideration, regard to womanly feeling, and an opportunity for
seeking the affection of the captive by kindness. The law adds,
furthermore, that if the man change his mind, and do not wish to
marry her after this time for closer acquaintance, then he shall
give her her liberty, and allow her to go where she pleases: "Thou
shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise
of her, because thou hast humbled her."
The laws of Moses did not forbid polygamy, but they secured to the
secondary wives such respect and attention as made the maintenance
of many of them a matter of serious difficulty. Everywhere we find
Moses interposing some guard to the helplessness of the woman,
softening and moderating the harsh customs of ancient society in
her favor. Men were not allowed to hold women-servants merely for
the gratification of a temporary passion, without assuming the
obligations of a husband. Thus we find the following restraint on
the custom of buying a handmaid or concubine: "If a man sell his
daughter to be a maid-servant, she shall not go out to work as
the men-servants do, and, if she please not her master which hath
betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed; he
shall have no power to sell her unto a stranger, seeing he hath
dealt deceitfully with her. And if he have betrothed her to his
son, he shall deal with her as a daughter. And if he take another
wife, her food and her raiment, and her duty of marriage shall he
not diminish. And if he do not these three things unto her, then
shall she go out free without money." (Ex. xxi. 7.) This law, in
fact, gave to every concubine the rights and immunities of a legal
wife, and in default of its provisions she recovered her liberty.
Thus, also, we find a man is forbidden to take two sisters to wife,
and the feelings of the first wife are expressly mentioned as the
reason: "Thou shalt not take unto thy wife her sister to vex her
during her lifetime."
In the same manner it was forbidden to allow personal favoritism
to influence the legal rights of succession belonging to children
of different wives. (Deut. xxi. 15.) "If a man have two wives, one
beloved and the other hated, and they have both borne him children,
and if the firstborn son be hers that is hated, then, when he
maketh his sons to inherit, he may not make the son of the beloved
firstborn, but he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the
firstborn."
If a man slandered the chastity of his wife before marriage, she
or her relations had a right to bring him before a tribunal of the
elders, and, failing to substantiate his accusations, he was heavily
fined and the right of divorce taken from him.
By thus hedging in polygamy with the restraints of serious
obligations and duties, and making every concubine a wife, entitled
to claim all the privileges of a wife, Moses prepared the way for
its gradual extinction. For since it could not be a mere temporary
connection involving no duty on the man's part, since he could
not sell or make merchandise of the slave when he was tired of
her, since the children had a legal claim to support,--it became a
serious matter to increase the number of wives. The kings of Israel
were expressly forbidden to multiply wives; and the disobedience
of Solomon, who followed the custom of Oriental sovereigns, is
mentioned with special reprobation, as calling down the judgments of
God upon his house.
The result of all this was, that in the course of time polygamy fell
into disuse among the Jews; and, after the Babylonian captivity,
when a more strenuous observance of the laws of Moses was enforced,
it almost entirely ceased.[1] In the time of Christ and the
Apostles, the Jews had become substantially a monogamic nation.
[1] Michaelis, Laws of Moses, III. 5, § 95.
Another peculiarity in the laws of Moses is the equality of the
treatment of man and woman. Among other nations, adultery was
punished severely in the wife, and lightly, if at all, in the
husband. According to the Jewish law, it was punished by the death
of both parties. If a man seduced a girl, he was obliged to marry
her; and forcible violation was punished by death.
While in many other nations, prostitution, in one form or other,
formed part of the services of the temple and the revenues of the
state, it was enacted that the wages of such iniquity should not
be received into the treasury of the Lord; and, finally, it was
enjoined that there should be no prostitute among the daughters of
Israel. (Deut. xxiii. 17, 18.)
In all that relates to the details of family life, the laws of Moses
required great temperance and government of the passions; and,
undoubtedly, these various restraints and religious barriers raised
by the ceremonial law around the wife and mother are one great
reason of the vigor of the Jewish women and the uncorrupted vitality
of the race.
The law of Moses on divorce, though expressly spoken of by Christ
as only a concession or adaptation to a low state of society, still
was, in its day, on the side of protection to women. A man could
not put his wife out of doors at any caprice of changing passion: a
legal formality was required, which would, in those times, require
the intervention of a Levite to secure the correctness of the
instrument. This would bring the matter under the cognizance of
legal authority, and tend to check the rash exercise of the right
by the husband. The final result of all this legislation, enforced
from age to age by Divine judgments, and by the warning voices of
successive prophets, was, that the Jewish race, instead of sinking
into licentiousness, and losing stamina and vigor, as all the other
ancient nations did, became essentially a chaste and vigorous
people, and is so to this day.
The comparison of the literature of any ancient nation with that of
the Jews strikingly demonstrates this. The uncleanness and obscenity
of much of the Greek and Roman literature is in wonderful contrast
to the Jewish writings in the Bible and Apocrypha, where vice is
never made either ludicrous or attractive, but mentioned only with
horror and reprobation.
If we consider now the variety, the elevation, and the number of
female characters in sacred history, and look to the corresponding
records of other nations, we shall see the results of this culture
of women. The nobler, the heroic elements were developed among the
Jewish women by the sacredness and respect which attached to family
life. The veneration which surrounded motherhood, and the mystic
tradition coming down through the ages that some Judæan mother
should give birth to the great Saviour and Regenerator of mankind,
consecrated family life with a devout poetry of emotion. Every
cradle was hallowed by the thought of that blessed child who should
be the hope of the world.
Another cause of elevation of character among Jewish women was their
equal liability to receive the prophetic impulse. A prophet was,
by virtue of his inspiration, a public teacher, and the leader of
the nation,--kings and magistrates listened to his voice; and this
crowning glory was from time to time bestowed on women.
We are informed in 2 Kings xxii. 14, that in the reign of King
Josiah, when a crisis of great importance arose with respect to
the destiny of the nation, the king sent a deputation of the chief
priests and scribes to inquire of the word of the Lord from Huldah
the prophetess, and that they received her word as the highest
authority. This was while the prophet Jeremiah was yet a young man.
The prophetess was always a poetess, and some of the earliest
records of female poetry in the world are of this kind. A lofty
enthusiasm of patriotism also distinguishes the Jewish women, and
in more than one case in the following sketches we shall see them
the deliverers of their country. Corresponding to these noble women
of sacred history, what examples have we in polished Greece? The
only women who were allowed mental culture--who studied, wrote, and
enjoyed the society of philosophers and of learned men--were the
courtesans. For chaste wives and mothers there was no career and no
record.
In the Roman state we see the influence upon woman of a graver style
of manhood and a more equal liberty in the customs of society. In
Rome there were sacred women, devoted to religion, and venerated
accordingly. They differed, however, from the inspired women of
Jewish history in being entirely removed from the experiences of
family life. The vestal virgins were bound by cruel penalties
to a life of celibacy. So far as we know, there is not a Jewish
prophetess who is not also a wife, and the motherly character is
put forward as constituting a claim to fitness in public life. "I,
Deborah, arose a mother in Israel." That pure ideal of a sacred
woman springing from the bosom of the family, at once wife, mother,
poetess, leader, inspirer, prophetess, is peculiar to sacred
history.
WOMEN OF THE PATRIARCHAL AGES.
SARAH THE PRINCESS.
One woman in the Christian dispensation has received a special
crown of honor. Sarah, the wife of Abraham, mother of the Jewish
nation, is to this day an object of traditional respect and homage
in the Christian Church. Her name occurs in the marriage service as
an example for the Christian wife, who is exhorted to meekness and
obedience by St. Peter, "Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him
lord; whose daughters ye are, so long as ye do well, and are not
subject to a slavish fear."
In turning to the narrative of the Old Testament, however, we
are led to feel that in setting Sarah before wives as a model
of conjugal behavior, no very alarming amount of subjection or
submission is implied.
The name Sarah means "princess"; and from the Bible story we
infer that, crowned with the power of eminent beauty, and fully
understanding the sovereignty it gave her over man, Sarah was
virtually empress and mistress of the man she called "lord." She
was a woman who understood herself and him, and was too wise to
dispute the title when she possessed the reality of sway; and while
she called Abraham "lord," it is quite apparent from certain little
dramatic incidents that she expected him to use his authority in the
line of her wishes.
In going back to these Old Testament stories, one feels a ceaseless
admiration of the artless simplicity of the primitive period of
which they are the only memorial. The dew of earth's early morning
lies on it, sparkling and undried; and the men and women speak out
their hearts with the simplicity of little children.
In Abraham we see the man whom God designed to be the father of
a great sacerdotal nation; through whom, in the fullness of time,
should come the most perfect revelation of himself to man, by Jesus
Christ. In choosing the man to found such a nation, the Divine
Being rejected the stormy and forcible characters which command
the admiration of rude men in early ages, and chose one of gentler
elements.
Abraham was distinguished for a loving heart, a tender domestic
nature, great reverence, patience, and fidelity, a childlike
simplicity of faith, and a dignified self-possession. Yet he was not
deficient in energy or courage when the event called for them. When
the warring tribes of the neighborhood had swept his kinsman, Lot,
into captivity, Abraham came promptly to the rescue, and, with his
three hundred trained servants, pursued, vanquished, and rescued.
Though he loved not battle, when roused for a good cause he fought
to some purpose.
Over the heart of such a man, a beautiful, queenly woman held
despotic sway. Traveling with her into the dominions of foreign
princes, he is possessed by one harassing fear. The beauty of this
woman,--will it not draw the admiration of marauding powers? And
shall I not be murdered, or have her torn from me? And so, twice,
Abraham resorts to the stratagem of concealing their real relation,
and speaking of her as his sister. The Rabbinic traditions elaborate
this story with much splendor of imagery. According to them, Abraham
being obliged by famine to sojourn in Egypt, rested some days by the
river Nile; and as he and Sarah walked by the banks of the river,
and he beheld her wonderful beauty reflected in the water, he was
overwhelmed with fear lest she should be taken from him, or that he
should be slain for her sake. So he persuaded her to pass as his
sister; for, as he says, "she was the daughter of my father, but
not of my mother." The legend goes on to say, that, as a further
precaution, he had her placed in a chest to cross the frontier; and
when the custom-house officers met them, he offered to pay for the
box whatever they might ask, to pass it free.
"Does it contain silks?" asked the officers.
"I will pay the tenth as of silk," he replied.
"Does it contain silver?" they inquired.
"I will pay for it as silver," answered Abraham.
"Nay, then, it must contain gold."
"I will pay for it as gold."
"May be it contains most costly gems."
"I will pay for it as gems," he persisted.
In the struggle the box was broken open, and in it was seated a
beautiful woman whose countenance illumined all Egypt. The news
reached the ears of Pharaoh, and he sent and took her.
In comparing these Rabinnic traditions with the Bible, one is
immediately struck with the difference in quality,--the dignified
simplicity of the sacred narrative contrasts forcibly with the
fantastic elaborations of tradition.
The Rabbinic and Alcoranic stories are valuable, however, as showing
how profound an impression the personality of these characters had
left on mankind. The great characters of the Biblical story, though
in themselves simple, seemed, like the sun, to raise around them
many-colored and vaporous clouds of myth and story. The warmth of
their humanity kept them enwreathed in a changing mist of human
sympathies.
The falsehoods which Abraham tells are to be estimated not by the
modern, but by the ancient standard. In the earlier days of the
world, when physical force ruled, when the earth was covered with
warring tribes, skill in deception was counted as one of the forms
of wisdom. "The crafty Ulysses" is spoken of with honor through the
"Odyssey" for his skill in dissembling; and the Lacedemonian youth
were punished, not for stealing or lying, but for performing these
necessary operations in a bungling, unskillful manner.
In a day when it was rather a matter of course for a prince to help
himself to a handsome woman wherever he could find her, and kill
her husband if he made any objections, a weaker party entering the
dominions of a powerful prince was under the laws of war.
In our nineteenth century we have not yet grown to such maturity
as not to consider false statements and stratagem as legitimate
war policy in dealing with an enemy. Abraham's _ruse_ is not,
therefore, so very far behind even the practice of modern
Christians. That he should have employed the same fruitless
stratagem twice, seems to show that species of infatuation on the
one subject of a beloved woman, which has been the "last infirmity"
of some otherwise strong and noble men,--wise everywhere else, but
weak there.
The Rabbinic legends represent Sarah as being an object of ardent
admiration to Pharaoh, who pressed his suit with such vehemence
that she cried to God for deliverance, and told the king that she
was a married woman. Then--according to this representation--he
sent her away with gifts, and even extended his complacency so far
as to present her with his daughter Hagar as a handmaid,--a legend
savoring more of national pride than of probability.
In the few incidents related of Sarah she does not impress us as
anything more than the beautiful princess of a nomadic tribe, with
many virtues and the failings that usually attend beauty and power.
With all her advantages of person and station, Sarah still wanted
what every woman of antiquity considered the crowning glory of
womanhood. She was childless. By an expedient common in those early
days, she gives her slave as second wife to her husband, whose child
shall be her own. The Rabbinic tradition says that up to this time
Hagar had been tenderly beloved by Sarah. The prospect, however, of
being mother to the heir of the family seems to have turned the head
of the handmaid, and broken the bonds of friendship between them.
In its usual naïve way, the Bible narrative represents Sarah as
scolding her patient husband for the results which came from
following her own advice. Thus she complains, in view of Hagar's
insolence: "My wrong be upon thee. I have given my maid unto thy
bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in
her eyes. The Lord judge between thee and me."
We see here the eager, impulsive, hot-hearted woman, accustomed to
indulgence, impatient of trouble, and perfectly certain that she is
in the right, and that the Lord himself must think so. Abraham, as a
well-bred husband, answers pacifically: "Behold, thy maid is in thy
hand, to do as pleaseth thee." And so it pleased Sarah to deal so
hardly with her maid that she fled to the wilderness.
Finally, the domestic broil adjusts itself. The Divine Father, who
watches alike over all his creatures, sends back the impetuous slave
from the wilderness, exhorted to patience, and comforted with a
promise of a future for her son.